Four men appear in court for the murder of Luke Edwards

Four men appeared in court charged with the murder of Luke Edwards, who died while in the care of a rehabilitation facility on the South Coast.

Edwards, 32, was reported to have died on April 9 when his body was found allegedly on a property neighbouring the Tetelestai Recovery Centre, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in Winklespruit. Management of the centre has denied any involvement in his death.

The men aged between 24 and 29 appeared in the Umlazi Magistrate's Court on Monday and were remanded in custody.

Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority said the case was adjourned to Friday, July 4 for a formal bail application.

Edwards’s parents Duncan and Linda had enlisted the services of private investigator Brad Nathanson as they believed their son may have been killed.

Linda stated that Luke smoked marijuana at night to help him sleep. She said when he returned from Mexico in March, Luke had gone into a bad psychosis and was smoking marijuana during the day.

"He was almost schizophrenic and was making up weird stories and becoming aggressive. He stayed with family for a few days which seemed to calm him but then he smoked marijuana, and the police had to be called because he was acting irrational and aggressive,” said Linda.

She said after police released him back into their care they convinced him to volunteer for rehabilitation, and he was taken to Arca, a medical detox treatment centre.

“They had him on detox for two days. He would not comply any longer and wanted to leave. The doctor at ARCA suggested we move him,” said Linda.

She said they met with the owner of Tetelestai Recovery Centre on April 1 to check if they would be able to cope with Luke, understood psychosis and have someone to medically check on him.

Linda said that they had advised the owner that once Luke had gone through their detox arrival process, they would get their own psychiatrist to attend and treat him.

“I messaged on numerous occasions to check if Luke was calm and if there were any issues. The last was on April 7. He was found deceased in the early morning of April 9,” said Linda.

Linda said she received a call from the centre on April 9 informing her that Luke had absconded from the facility the night before.

Luke’s father, Duncan, said it was the worst day of my life having to identify his son.

"There is nothing more traumatic than to see my son so badly beaten. We were promised they would look after him and provide him with psychiatric help and treatment. Instead, he ended up dead. If they couldn’t help they should have told us. We want justice for Luke and the truth about what happened,” said Duncan.

In a statement issued by Tetelestai Recovery Centre’s managing director, Donovan de Klerk, it stated that due to ongoing public commentary, the centre felt compelled to clarify certain matters to ensure that misinformation did not cause further harm, especially to their current residents, their families, and their staff.

De Klerk said Luke was admitted to the centre on a voluntary basis and claims that on April 8 at 11.06pm, Luke left the Centre without authorisation.

“On April 9 at 1.30am, CCTV footage from a neighbouring facility, a retirement home, shows Luke alive, coherent, fully clothed, and without visible injuries.

"Later that morning, Luke was tragically discovered deceased lying in a big pool of blood on the retirement home property. Circumstances surrounding his death, including details regarding his injuries, are the subject of an active SAPS investigation, and we will not speculate on any cause or timeline,” said De Klerk.

He said they were aware of various claims circulating on social media that suggest wrong-doing by Tetelestai Recovery Centre or its residents.

“We categorically deny any involvement in Luke Edwards’ death and reject the assertion that he was harmed while in our care,” said De Klerk.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE